How a Court Decision on Remastering Could Completely Change Copyright Law

Michael S. Poster, Victor K. Sapphire and Joshua Blechner's article, "How a Court Decision on Remastering Could Completely Change Copyright Law," was published in Digital Music News on August 29, 2016.

From the article...

"This decision raises many questions, and the music industry will no doubt keep a close eye on this case (should it be appealed), as well as matters in other jurisdictions. For instance, does this mean that copyright holders of sound recordings can extend their copyrights indefinitely by simply remastering the recordings at some point before the works become public domain?

Similarly, does this decision present a defense to accused infringers that the alleged infringement involved a “recording” that was actually a remastered work, and thus there is no standing to sue? Moreover, it raises fundamental questions about whether mastering or remastering engineers can be considered “authors,” raising issues about joint ownership, licensing authority and other concerns."